The Tri Alliance
by RosemaryBagels
Summary: Tony shouldn't be doing this. He really really shouldn't. Loki was a dangerous man who'd killed many people, including Phil Coulson. But with England's words ringing in his ears, he just couldn't turn the pleading god in to Shield. He'd be safer with Arthur anyway, after all the man didn't technically exist... FrostIronUK
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:**

**Hetalia- This universe, while not strictly AU is slightly different from the media we know and love. After a scare with the media, the Nations have stopped having "World Conferences" in the same sort of way. They are essentially living underground, with involvement with national issues being decided by the leader of the country, and interactions mostly limited to social interactions. This is mostly because I want to show a more serious side of the characters. This will not be very well explained in the story, so I'm saying it now.**

**Avengers- This takes place after The Avengers, but before Iron Man 3 because I'm not to sure what to do with the whole SPOILERS removing the arc reactor thing. I'm waiting to see where the new movies take the character after that before making my own opinion.**

**With that in mind, please enjoy.**

**.**

"I still don't see why you're sending me to Britain."

"It's a good business venue."

"We aren't making any money from this."

"On the other hand, the publicity will be fabulous."

"Oh. Publicity. Is that a thing we do now? Cause I'd thought we'd had enough with the whole Avengers thing."

"Stark Industries is one of the leading companies in green energy; we need to be well represented."

"Can't you just send someone else?"

"You've been specifically requested."

"Look Pep, I'm flattered by their interest, I really am, I just see no reason to spend two weeks on the other side of the ocean to go to a brainstorming workshop. Can't I just do video chat?"

"Get on the plane, Tony."

.

"You want me to what?"

"You heard me."

"Yes I heard you, I just don't understand the point. You want me to what?"

"I want you to keep an eye on Tony Stark."

"Okay… lemme get this straight. You are having a covert meeting in Cardiff so you can have a meeting with the Italian mafia which you don't want me to attend, but you want me nearby, so you are sending me to the clean energy conference three floors down, which Tony Stark just happens to be attending, and you want me to what… stalk him?"

"What don't you understand?"

"Why can't I just sit around in my hotel room and read a book?"

"I would find it beneficial to have someone with eyes on Stark."

"What do you think he's going to do? Put on his Iron Man suit and attract loving fans, thus diverting the press away from your inflated ego?"

"He might be a spy."

"Or he might just be a member of the not affiliated with anyone Avengers team, who happens to be attending an energy conference."

"Just keep an eye on him."

"Sir, I find that it extremely disrespectful to Mr. Stark that he wants to enter our country and attend an event that he was invited to and all you want to do is put a tail on him."

"Kirkland! I'm not asking you again."

"Fine, sir. Whatever you say."

.

The accommodations were mediocre at best. Tony could tell that whoever organised this thing hadn't actually expected him to show up. Which was alright. It wasn't like he really wanted to spend much time in the room anyways.

Still, the workshop didn't start till ten the next morning, which meant that Tony had a full eighteen hours to do nothing before this thing really began. Great.

After he checked his email (spam, spam, potential investor for SI, reminder from Pepper), answering Clint's question on where to find the window cleaner (closet by the elevator on floor three said Jarvis), and considering texting Pepper (but time zones, and was Cardiff ahead or behind? Better to just not bother), Tony was really bored.

Fury had, quite recently, insisted that all the Avengers, except possibly Thor, live in the same place to make it easier to contact them. And since Tony happened to have a rather huge tower in the middle of New York, his place was volunteered.

And it was great. It was really great. Most of the time. But Tony hadn't really ever done the "having friends" thing, and he was constantly afraid that he would mess up and loose what little connection he had. So he spent most of his time in his lab, because if he wasn't around to say things then he couldn't mess anything up, but that wasn't ideal.

Because ignoring the Avengers in his own home also equated to ignoring his girlfriend, which was not something Tony wanted to do, and he had the sneaking suspicion that Natasha had caught on to him.

It was just that, they were friends. But not friends that went away if you fucked things up, they were also a team and they worked together, meaning that if Tony screwed this up… he'd have a lot of people to deal with. Living in his house.

He couldn't run.

Tony ran a hand through his hair in frustration and looked at the clock proudly proclaiming that it was thirty minutes past midnight. Ah, fuck what time it was, Tony wasn't spending another minute in the tiny room.

His feet took him down the dimly lit corridor, up a short flight of stairs, around a corner and into the room where the Energy Conference was to be held the next day.

The room was dark by the entrance, but a second bank of lights by the far wall had been fully lit, which allowed for a decent view of the three sleek round tables and chairs.

There was a single man, sitting at the far table with a newspaper over his face. Tony would have thought him asleep, if not for the fact that the man in question then put his feet up on the table. Seeing nothing better to do than say hello, Tony wandered over and took a seat about two down the table from him.

"You here for the Energy Conference?" The man's voice had a sharp English accent, but he seemed utterly bored.

"Yeah, I guess." There was an odd pause. "You?"

"Fucked if I know," the man groaned, "My boss said to be here, so here I am."

"Your boss do that often?"

"Yes. No. Sometimes. He's a git. I try to avoid him as much as possible."

Tony let out a little breath of laughter, and the man pulled down his newspaper to give him an odd look. He looked to be in his early thirties with dusty blonde hair, and enormous eyebrows.

"I take it your boss is not-a-git then?" The British man asked.

"Oh hell no." Even though Fury wasn't really his boss, there was no denying that he was definitely a git. Whatever that meant.

"Did he convince you to come to the 'brainstorming the new clean energy ideas of the future' thing?" The man asked, quoting one of the write-ups on the Energy thingy.

"What, you mean people with over inflated egos yelling at each other about the best way to conserve fuel?" The other man looked as if he were trying not to laugh. "Nah, that was my girlfriend." The blonde looked incredulous, and then began to laugh. And Tony laughed with him, because the entire situation was weird and funny, and the sound of laughter just seemed to chase all the awkwardness out of the room.

"I'm Arthur Kirkland." The British man offered a hand.

"Tony Stark." The handshake was firm, and Arthur's hands were dry and smooth.

"Well, Mr. Stark. Welcome to Britain."

"Call me Tony."

.

"And I'd like to thank you all for appearing at the World of Change Energy Conference today."

Tony was bored. Actually that was what he'd been two hours ago. By now he was long past the bored out of his mind stage and was heading into the 'if I had a gun I'd shoot myself in the foot just to give me something to do' phase.

There had been three hours of opening speeches. Three hours. Mostly because there was a problem with the projector, and despite the fact that Tony or many other numerous people around the room could easily have fixed it, the man who'd made the damn project was determined that he'd be the one to figure it out. After watching him struggle for twenty minutes, one of the other guys, Tony did not bother to learn his name, stood up to say the opening words, except was stalling and rambled for another thirty minutes.

Then they watched the power point which was long and pointless, then this scientist who got invited wanted to say a few words of thanks, then a man wearing a sharp suit made another speech to actually open the conference, which stalled in the middle so he could have a twenty minute conversation on the phone with his wife. After three hours they were finally getting down to the first order of business: the name game.

Arthur again sat with a newspaper over his face, only this time Tony was pretty sure he was actually asleep. Tony himself had doodled through the margins of the information package provided, which was now covered in diagrams of possible engine parts, upgrades to his suit, rude drawings of the people at the table around him, and an immense stick figure battle that had sprawled across the entirety of page five.

He'd texted everyone he could think of and had no response from either Pepper or Happy, a sharp "I'm working" from Rhodey, a "Why are you texting me? Do you need something?" from Steve, and "That bored, huh?" from Bruce.

Currently he'd made it his mission to google every person in the room, and had just about succeeded, except for himself, Arthur, and the two unnamed guys in the back discussing the cable malfunction that had caused the delay in the first place. And he'd already googled himself on several occasions so…

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang and some muffled screams, followed by the sounds of quickly moving footsteps from down the hall. The board room was suddenly silent except for Arthur bolting upright, and then a blaring alarm was set off.

.

In the moment before chaos, Arthur observed, time appeared frozen. Just as the alarm sounded, it was if the entire room froze, waiting for someone to have a reaction that would become the consensus of a panicked response from everyone in the room.

That reaction came from a bald man with a beige tie bolting from the room.

As the frozen time broke, Arthur received three texts in quick succession from the Prime Minister.

**Bomb threat.**

**Am clear of building.**

**Keep eyes on Stark.**

Brilliant. Not only was he completely cut off from the politics he was supposed to be involved with, but he was a billionaire's babysitter too. Not that he particularly minded handing out with Stark. He was better than a lot of people, like France. Even for a playboy, he was better than France.

It was the principal of the thing! He was the bloody United Kingdom, and despite the fact that he did technically have to follow his boss's orders, the man could at least be a little kinder to him. Most of the time Arthur was treated like the dirt he walked on.

He pocketed his phone to realise that he and Stark were the only people left in the room. It took him a moment to realise that, like himself, Stark had seen the battlefield and his response to a panicked situation was not to run, but look for an enemy. Stark stood, perfectly still with his eyes closed, as if trying to determine if there were hostile sounds echoing through the building.

"What are you doing standing around?" A uniformed police officer ran into a room. "It's a bloody evacuation! Get out!" The over enthusiastic woman forced the two of them out the door and into the stairwell and yelled, "Go!" before running back into the hallway to check if anyone else hadn't evacuated.

"So, what's going on?" Tony asked.

"There was a bomb threat."

"What?"

"The Prime Minister was having a meeting upstairs. I'm assuming he was the target."

"Is there actually a bomb, because I'm pretty good a defusing those things." As if the mafia would let a bomb anywhere near their leader.

"Probably not. But we should still exit the premises." There was a moment of silence as the two of them wandered out of the building.

They stood for a moment and watched as the organised force emptied the building, secured the perimeter and calmed numerous people in hysterics.

"Huh. They actually seem to know what they are doing," Tony commented. "I guess I'm really not needed." Arthur allowed a look of amusement to creep onto his face. Even if he didn't know it, Tony was sort of like America, he thought he was the centre of the universe.

"We should leave before the place is swarming with paparazzi. Want to go find a pub?"

.

Tony, who still couldn't quite grasp that there were police forces that were actually competent and good at their jobs, was in fact quite happy to follow his new friend in the quest for alcohol. Or at least, he thought Arthur was a friend. The man was exceptionally hard to read.

Still, he was sarcastic and funny, and Tony really had nothing better to do.

"So, do you live in Cardiff?" he questioned.

"No. I live in London, usually."

"Usually?"

"My job forces me to move around a lot." Arthur turned a corner and pointed up the street. "That's where we're heading." Had Tony stumbled across it on his own, he would have thought it a hole in the wall establishment, and probably wouldn't have gone in. But inside was cool and smelled of dark wood, rich ale, and the place was entirely deserted.

The man that wandered from the back had frizzy brown hair, a hard face but kind eyes. Arthur ordered a pint of his finest dark, and then shot Tony a questioning look. Tony just shrugged.

"I'll have what he's having."

The man smiled, and filled two glasses with the frothy brown liquid, and Arthur tossed him some incomprehensible amount of money in pounds, which Tony suddenly realised he had none of.

Arthur led them to a table in a dimly lit corner, and the man vanished again, leaving the two of them blessedly alone.

"What's it like?" Tony said, picking up the conversation that had been abandoned outside the establishment.

"Huh?"

"What's it like having a job that forces you to move around all the time." Arthur stared down at his beer. "If you don't mind me asking," Tony tacked on.

"It's," Arthur hesitated, "both good and bad. It's really good because you get to go everywhere and see so many things that you wouldn't think of otherwise. But it makes it really hard to stay connected to people." Tony nodded, taking a sip of the liquid which was slightly bitter, but achingly rich.

"So you don't have any family waiting for you, home in London?" Arthur's eyebrows furrowed, and Tony suddenly realised that the man in front of him looked a lot older than he first appeared to be.

"I can't even remember the last time there was someone I would willingly call family." Tony suddenly felt like an intruder. As if he shouldn't be there to see the revealed secrets of this man whose eyes reflected a soul much darker than it had first appeared to be.

"Still," Arthur sighed, "I wouldn't trade my position to anyone else in the world."

"So, you like it?" Tony whispered.

"I don't think anyone else is competent enough to do it." Tony snorted.

"Tell me about it."

"So, what's it like being a super hero?" Arthur asked.

"Different." Tony responded, and decided to reward Arthur's surprising honesty with a bit of his own. "And much like you said. It feels really powerful being out there and helping people. Like I could actually make a difference. But everyone just gets excited about the mask, and seems to forget about the man inside. But it's not something I would pass off to someone else, and I've never really had that many friends so..."

"Me neither," Arthur said. Tony looked up to meet his eyes, and was surprised when the blonde offered him a weak smile.

"I just…" Tony froze. Did he really want to share this information? Then again why not, the man was a British man that Tony would probably never see again. "It's really hard for me to connect with people. Sometimes I just wish it was easier."

"So do I," Arthur's voice was no more than a whisper. He slowly reached across the table until his fingers brushed Tony's. "So do I."

.

They stumbled from the pub when it was dusk, and watched as the sun sunk beneath the line of buildings. Tony was amused and also slightly in awe when Arthur used his seemingly magical ability at finding things to locate a local and cheep hotel with available rooms.

Tony's room was a floor above Arthur's, and even though he should really head up the stairs and go to sleep, he somehow couldn't force himself to move away from Arthur's door. The man himself seemed reluctant to lose Tony's company, and after a moment of hesitation, he seemed to make a decision and stepped forwards. Sure he might have moved much closer into Tony's personal space than he would normally allow, but with the feint smell of alcohol on his breath and eyes that seemed to glow in the dark, Tony found he really didn't mind.

Not only did he not mind, but he almost wanted to be closer to this burning enigma that was so like him and yet to different, fire that was reflected in Arthur's own eyes.

Tony wasn't exactly sure who started the kiss, but he knew that it was hot and somehow seemed like he had found a missing part of himself, and by the end of it he was sweaty, needy, and desperate to hold on to this piece forever.

"You talked about connecting," Arthur whispered against his mouth. "Could you show me?"

The rest of the night was lost in passion.

.

Tony woke with a start to the sound of his phone beeping incessantly. This wouldn't have been that much of a problem, except for the fact that he was really comfortable, and didn't want to move.

Every muscle in his body felt like it was sore, but the good kind of sore that only served as a reminder of the absolutely fantastic night he'd just had.

The ball of warmth that was Arthur had curled into his side, his head on Tony's arm and hand next to the arc reactor. Tony was almost too hot, but he had absolutely no intention of moving.

"You should probably get that," Arthur muttered, without opening his eyes.

"Yeah, but that involves getting up." Tony responded.

"As tempting an idea as just lying here is people your side of the pond have probably found out about the not bombing by now." This meant Pepper and Fury hounding on his ass for not checking in immediately after the event. Great.

"I kinda need my arm then." Arthur gave a resounded sigh and slowly sat up. Tony rolled over and managed to grab his pants from the floor without getting out of bed, and fished his phone out from the pocket.

**26 missed texts**

**12 missed calls**

**8 messages**

Well shit. Someone obviously wanted to get a hold of him, then. He ignored the missed calls, and focussed on the texts, most of which were from Pepper asking where he was, what had happened and if he was okay. There was also a concerned message from Bruce, an annoyed message from Clint, several increasingly worried messages from Steve and an informative message from Natasha telling him that there was a situation at Shield that Fury wanted him to be a part of. And then Pepper telling him that there was a jet waiting for him. Damn it.

Tony flumped backwards onto his pillow, tracing the intricate designs made with stucco on the ceiling.

"What's going on?" Arthur whispered.

"Something came up at super hero base. They want me on a plane," Tony checked the time, "twenty minutes ago." Arthur groaned, laying back on his pillow as well.

"I guess you should get going then."

"I guess." And yet, Tony was reluctant. Tony was reluctant because, if he left now, this night would be nothing more than one of his one night stands, in which case he'd never see Arthur again. But that wasn't what this was. Last night had meant more to Tony than that, and he longed to somehow prove it to Arthur.

Another panicked and furious text arrived from Pepper, and Tony realised he would be in serious shit if he didn't head out soon.

He rolled from the bed, quickly separating his clothes from Arthur's and pulling them on. He grabbed a notepad and pen from the nearby table, jotting down his personal cell phone number.

"I'm sorry, I really have to go," He said to Arthur, feeling a tinge of regret as Arthur's sorrowed eyes met his own, "but please. Call me." He pressed the paper into Arthur's hand and watched as a small spark of hope burst into the man's eyes, before he turned and exited the room.

And with resignation settling hard over his heart, Tony left the hotel.

.

**A/N: Well If you're still here, thanks for reading. I'd like to say that this story is unbetad because I am unsure of how my usual beta feels about crossover fics. Please ignore any typos because even though I did my best to proofread, things seem to slip through. If you are interested, or know someone who might be, don't hesitate to contact me.**

**Though pretty familiar with Hetalia characters, this is my first time writing for Avengers, so please let me know if you find the characters out of character, and what I could do to fix them.**

**If you are here from my other Hetalia stuff, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you guys. The Demon Who Lives Upstairs will pick up again once school starts, and the next chapter of Worth the Risk is almost finished.**

**Please review though, I'd really like to know what people think of this...**

**~Rosemary Bagels**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Alright. I know nothing about British politics, Russian history, or anything to do with Thanos whatsoever, so if anything about those things seems wrong, please let me know.**

**Apologies: Loki- He isn't in this chapter. Or the next one. And possibly the one after that. Sorry! There needs to be some plot development before I can introduce him.**

**America- He isn't in this chapter either, but just a heads up that in this story he is what I call a "Justifiable Asshole". Meaning that he is going to act like an asshole, but has reasons for doing so.**

**Mistakes are my fault, but do not blame me!**

**.**

"Hey Ivan."

"Arthur: friend. It's been a while."

"Yeah," Arthur's weary voice echoed through the phone lines. "Sorry for calling so late I just…" Ivan glanced over at the clock. His friend knew he would be up at midnight anyways, he didn't know why the Englishman insisted on apologising every time he called at an impossibly inconvenient hour. Ivan was happy to talk, even at an inconvenient hour.

"So, what's up with you?" Arthur's voice echoed through the phone. Ivan usually would have insisted he cut the small talk, but Arthur had been having some particularly difficult struggles of late.

"Oh nothing much. My sisters came over for dinner yesterday." It had been an awkward affair. There air had been filled with fragmented silences and half spoken phrases around the table which had once belonged to them as a family, but now just belonged to Ivan alone. Even when the room was filled with laughter, it still didn't feel like the home it used to be.

"I trust they are doing well?" Ivan had to smile at his friends manners before he answered.

"There has been some problematic weather in Belarus, but other than that they are going just fine."

"That's good to hear."

"So tell me, friend. What is on your mind?" The phone was filled with static, as Arthur nearly groaned. Ivan felt a pang of concern for the man. He didn't deserve half the shit his boss put him through.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Arthur," Ivan allowed a touch of sharpness to creep into his tone, "Tell me what happened." There was silence for a moment. Ivan waited patiently as he listened to Arthur semi-laboured breathing.

"It's my boss," Arthur finally whispered. "You know the drill." Ivan did know the drill. Arthur's boss, though pleasant when sober, was an absolute dragon when drunk. Since countries had no real legal status, and didn't even exist to the people who didn't need to know about them, many bosses felt it within their power to abuse their nation, physically, emotionally or sexually. Arthur hadn't been sexually abused to the best of Ivan's knowledge (and if he had, he was getting a pipe through his head no matter what Arthur had to say on the subject), but he'd been known to beat Arthur on several occasions.

"Are you injured?" There was a small grunt.

"Not really, I don't think. He nailed me hard in the ribs, but I don't think it's too serious."

"If the pain hasn't dulled by this time tomorrow, you should get it checked out."

"Yeah. I know."

"Arthur…"

"What?"

"Don't make me come over there…" Arthur laughed dryly.

"You would, wouldn't you?"

"Da!" Ivan responded his voice cheery again. Arthur got used to his mood swings long ago.

"What do you want to know?"

"Why was he mad at you this time?"

"I… I met someone."

"Someone."

"Tony Stark."

"Ahh, one of Alfred's wonder-birds. Well, did the expectation hold up to reality?"

"Well he's completely full of himself, that's for sure."

"And…"

"And what?"

"If you didn't like him, you would have insulted him at least six times by now. So tell me what he's like."

"You sound like a teenage girl."

"And you sound like a high-schooler with a crush. Tell me what he's like."

"Fine. He is sort of an asshole, but he's sarcastic, and witty, and funny, and actually really relatable, and devilishly handsome…"

"And ridiculously good in bed?" Ivan asked in the silence. Arthur sputtered into the phone, and Ivan burst out laughing, imagining his friends face to be bright red.

"Maybe…" he muttered after a while.

"So your boss is trying to be a cock blocker as well as a prick, then?"

"Nah. He has the mistaken impression that somehow Tony's presence in Cardiff will topple the government."

"He's delusional."

"And an utter prick."

"I dare you to say that to his face." The ridiculous statement was rewarded with Arthur's laughter.

"Yeah right," Arthur said.

"Will you be seeing him again?" Ivan asked. Arthur seemed to hesitate.

"I don't know. He got called back to New York pretty quick, but he left his number…"

"You should call him." Ivan said, because it was true. Arthur needed to socialise more, even if it was with stupid over-Americanised heroes.

"I don't know Ivan. I probably shouldn't."

"He left you his number. He wants you to call him."

"You know why I can't, Ivan, he's—"

"I'm not suggesting you get married or anything. Just a phone call. But you are going to have to be the one to do this."

"Why me?"

"Because he gave you his number, not the other way around. And he can't exactly look you up, so he has no way of contacting you. You should call him."

"I'll think about it."

"Really."

"I'm serious! I'm actually going to think about it."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Right. Well thanks for this. I'll see you around, Ivan."

"May we meet soon, my friend." Arthur hung up after Ivan's usual farewell, and Ivan spent a few moments simply staring at the phone in his hand.

He talked to Arthur frequently, but it had been ages since he'd actually seen him. It had been ages since he'd seen any nation he wasn't related too, but with Arthur it really bothered him.

His friendship with the man was odd, but Ivan liked to think that it was the only thing that had formed out of the destruction of his family.

He'd known that his family was falling apart, that the young ones would leave him one by one, and that he would be helpless to do anything but let them slip through his fingers. He'd tried to accept it, he really did, but when Ukraine… Katusha…

His big sister.

When she left, that was the final straw that broke him. His once crowded house was echoing and empty, and Ivan became like a poltergeist. Sometimes he haunted the place in his misery, other times he unleashed his anger on the unsuspecting furniture that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Alfred had laughed at him at the subsequent G8 meeting, and Ivan had felt his heart explode in anger.

When the day had ended and Ivan was considering drinking himself to sleep, there was a nock at the door. But instead of what Ivan expected, which was Alfred there to make fun of him again, he'd opened the door to reveal England, with a bottle of high quality scotch and an understanding look in his eyes.

And Ivan realised that Arthur knew exactly what he was going through, his own misfortune regarding the separation of territories being almost legendary.

They'd spent the night barely getting drunk, and having the most honest conversation Ivan could ever remember having.

In a world where everyone seemed to be an enemy, Ivan had finally found a friend.

.

Tony returned to the tower, only to be accosted by Pepper in the hallway.

"Oh my gosh, Tony! I'm so glad you're alright." She grabbed him in a tight hug, and Tony felt all the get squished out of him.

"Yes. Surprisingly, I come to no harm in a building without a bomb in it," Tony chocked out. Pepper pulled back to glare at him.

"Oh, don't give me that."

"Give you what?"

"You were supposed to be back yesterday."

"You told me you wanted me to stay for the whole conference!"

"And as soon as I found out what was happening, I wanted you straight back home, Mr. 'I'm not going to answer my phone because I've got better things to do'."

"Yes, because I actually had things to do, and I was reasonably busy—"

"Guys!" Steve yelled from the end of the hallway. "I could hear you from the elevator. Tony, I need to talk to you." Tony gave a mock bow to Pepper, who just rolled her eyes, and turned to follow the Captain down the hallway.

"What's up Capsicle? Natasha said something important had happened."

"Yeah something happened." Steve muttered. "And you aren't going to like it."

.

"You're saying Loki escaped," Tony addressed Thor.

"The magic that was used to pull him from his prison was not his own. Loki could not have done this."

"So someone else broke him out. Brilliant. Explain to me how that's any different."

"We don't know that whoever pulled him out was his ally," Romanov said, from the side of the room.

"We are pretty sure he wasn't," Thor commented.

"And why," Tony asked, "Would you think that?"

"Magic leaves traces," Thor responded. "Unless we are much mistaken, the being that has removed him is Thanos. And if Thanos has managed to capture my brother, then we have bigger problems to worry about."

"What do you mean, bigger problems?" It was Banner this time.

"What little we know of Thanos includes his immense skill in possession. If he were to take over my brother, he could then use him to spread his parasite, which is much stronger than the tool used to take over you, Barton." Clint gave a noncommittal grunt to let Thor know he heard him.

"What's the likelihood that poltergeist here could take over your brother?" Tony asked.

"My brother's defences are strong, but his imprisonment has not left him in his top form. The longer he is there, the more likely it is that Thanos could break his mind." Tony didn't bother to say that he though Loki's mind was already broken. He knew most people in the room were already thinking it.

"What do you want us to do?" Steve asked. Thor looked down at his hands.

"Without access to other realms, it is difficult so say what can be done… But I would ask that you keep a watchful eye. Finding Loki should be the top priority."

"We'll keep an eye on it," Natasha commented.

How hard would it be to build a scanner that could transcend realms, Tony wondered. It should be easy enough to build a machine that could transmit a signal from Asgard to be received in Midgard, but spanning multiple realms? And how would you even get such a device there. Was there even a way for energy to travel through realms not using the Bifrost?

"Tony!" The man in question jerked back to attention when Steve shouted his name. "Could you do a basic scan to make sure Loki isn't anywhere on earth?"

"Uh… yeah. Sure. Right away." Tony left the room to avoid being questioned further.

.

To the best of Tony's knowledge, Loki wasn't anywhere on earth, but it wasn't as if he had much to go on. The technology that Shield used to scan for magic was crude, but worked, however if Loki wasn't using magic… there was no way Tony could find him.

He set Jarvis to let him know if there were any disturbances that matched Loki's pattern, or if he was caught on any security feeds.

The idea of a trans-realm transmitter still appealed to him, but after three possible drafts, Tony determined that there was really nothing he could do from his vantage point. He would need some for of magic to analyse, even seeing the Bifrost would help. But seeing as the only magical being around was Thor, who was returning to Asgard shortly to continue the search for his brother, Tony doubted he would have a chance.

He contemplated possibly trying to see what he could dig up on Arthur, but he realised the man probably liked his privacy, and Tony actually wanted to be liked by him, so he didn't. He could respect the man and keep his distance.

That didn't mean he wasn't constantly monitoring for phone calls from him though.

But seeing as though there wasn't much going on, he only thing he could do was sit and wait for something to happen.

Dammit.

.

It had been a week. A full week in which Arthur had his head full of That Night but not the strength to act on it. He tried to convince himself that Tony hadn't meant it. That the last thing Tony wanted was to hear from some one night stand he'd had in Europe. Even if Tony hadn't been called away it probably wouldn't have amounted to anything more… or maybe it might have… but no. No. It couldn't.

But Ivan's words kept ringing in his ears.

_You should call him._

_He left you his number. He wants you to call him._

_I'm not suggesting you get married or anything. Just a phone call._

He didn't have to arrange another meeting to meet or anything. Just phone him up and have a chat. It wouldn't take more than ten minutes.

He'd had the number in his hand and the phone in the other, but he just couldn't do it.

What if Tony wasn't the one who picked up the phone? What if some other avenger or some colleague picked up the phone and Arthur had to stutter through asking to speak to a man whom he'd only met once. That might not even want to speak to him.

Or worse, what if the number that Tony gave him wasn't even his. It could be some horrible prank on him, which Tony would know about and he would be secretly laughing at Arthur's belief that they could have had some form of connection from the safety of his own home. It didn't matter that Arthur was in his own home, he would be left alone in the cold, and utterly lost without the possibility that it could have been something.

Maybe it was better not to know.

Then he could still hope.

But Tony was on his mind when he was signing papers, the sound of his voice was echoing through the calls with his boss, and his breath was on Arthur's neck when he was trying to cook or embroider, or do something productive.

Even his fairy friends noticed, constantly hovering around his side, wondering what had gotten into their Nation. They too offered advice, but it was more on the vague side, as Arthur hadn't felt the need to constantly inform them of the comings and goings of the humans in his life. The one that got to him most was:

_When the heart seeks, there is something worth finding._

As if the fey could somehow predict that Tony Stark was something worth finding.

He wanted to though. He really really did. But at the end of the day, he just couldn't. He couldn't force himself.

And on top of that America wanted him to come to freaking DC for a bloody meeting that Alfred wasn't supposed to be arranging in the first place.

Stupid bloody Americans.

.

In the two weeks that Tony had absolutely nothing to do, he'd come to one conclusion.

Waiting was fucking boring.

There hadn't been any crisis large enough for The Avengers to be needed. There hadn't been any sign of Loki.

He was right about Thor leaving too. He'd stuck around for a grand total of one evening and a quick breakfast the next morning before hopping back on the magical floating rainbow to go back to his family and was probably doing something much more interesting than Tony was.

This was mostly distracting himself.

Because in the silence, in between activities when his hands had nothing to do and his mind no focus, he would get drawn into the memories.

The echoing whispers of a strangled gasp, and sharp laughter in the dark.

There was no use thinking about it, he'd decided. Either the man would contact him or he wouldn't, and there was absolutely nothing that Tony could do to determine which outcome was the one that would prevail.

Every day it didn't happen, it was less likely that it was going to.

Tony didn't even know what he was hoping for. Whether the other man was interested in a long term relationship, or if the two of them, broken together, had needed that one night of darkness to fix some part of themselves.

All he knew was that he'd met someone fantastic and beautiful and magical, that he wanted to get to know better, but might never see again.

Strangely, the only person who seemed to notice was Bruce.

Well that wasn't completely true. He was pretty sure that both Pepper and Natasha had noticed the change in his behaviour, but Natasha wasn't going to mention it, and Pepper had been trying to give him some breathing space, now that they were no longer in a relationship. Emphasis on trying.

Bruce ended up cornering him in his lab as Tony was desperately trying to make an already exceptional generator conserve more energy because he really just needed something to do.

"Hey Tony."

"Hey big man, what's up?"

Bruce had just given him a look which told Tony that he knew something was up, but didn't know what.

"Not much. Just wanted to know what was going on with you." It was said nonchalantly, but they both could hear the deeper meaning behind his words. Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair. There wasn't really much to say. Nothing much had even happened.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." This was said softer, but with just as much meaning.

"I know," Tony decided to just go with a half-truth. "I'm just really bored." Bruce gave a half amused chuckle.

"Well I have a few ideas, if you're interested in a new project."

Tony had to hand it to Bruce. The man seemed okay to accept what he knew must not have been the full truth, and instead of getting mad at Tony for lying, he simply gave Tony what he needed in the first place.

Bruce's best idea, which Tony had to admit was brilliant because he would be stumped for quite a while, was to try and design a teleportation system. They spent several hours working through theories and drafts in which Tony was brilliantly distracted, and thankful enough that he almost wanted to give Bruce a hug.

Their work was interrupted when Clint yelled that Steve had made dinner and it was ready twenty minutes ago.

They abandoned the half made projects, Jarvis would keep and eye on them, and wandered back to where the kitchen was, but just before exiting the lab, Bruce put his hand on Tony's shoulder.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, I'll be here."

Bruce wandered off to go find the food, but Tony found himself rooted to the spot and distracted for a completely different reason.

Holy mother of god, he'd actually managed to make a friend.

.

Three weeks. Three full weeks, and the only productive thing Arthur had done was give in to Alfred's constant nagging and agree to fly in for the stupid not supposed to be happening meeting.

He'd pretty much given up on calling Tony now.

If there was some point in which it was acceptable to call, Arthur was pretty sure he had missed it.

If he called now, Tony might not even recognise him.

This was accompanied by the crushing knowledge that there was something that he'd wanted, and could easily have gotten, but allowed his weakness to persuade him out of it, and now it was too late.

He'd really wanted to, but now he was absolutely and entirely out of time, and he had no one to blame but himself.

He felt like one of those zombies Alfred was always going on about. Dragging himself out of bed and walking around like he was almost dead, unable to survive the day without the copious amounts of caffeine contained in the tea he drank every morning.

Arthur groaned and let his head smack against the kitchen table.

His own cowardice had gotten him into this mess.

He always hated when France was right.

.

Three weeks and four days, not that Tony was counting.

Nope, he definitely wasn't.

What he was doing was over analysing things, wondering what he could have done differently. Could anything have been done differently to get the outcome he desired? Clearly the night had not meant as much to Arthur as it did to him.

Tony was once again sitting around in his lab attempting to be productive, and sort of succeeding, when Jarvis interrupted his thoughts.

"Incoming phone call, Sir." Tony felt a brief spark of hope, before he deliberately crushed it. No way in hell was Arthur going to call now.

"I'll take it," Tony said, and waited for Jarvis to connect him.

"Stark here."

"Tony?" Tony felt his heart drop into his feet because this was finally finally finally—

"Arthur."

"Hey," The man's breathing was ragged. "I'm sorry for this but… I just didn't have anyone else to call." He sounded pained.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked. His throat was dry.

"Well, I'm not physically harmed but… not really no." Tony felt anger burn in his chest. Arthur was crying. Arthur was crying, and calling him, a man he had only met once, because he had no one else to turn to. He wanted to bash whoever had done this to his precious blonde over the head with a chair, and then repulsor his ass to a desert and leave them there to rot.

"Jarvis, where is he?"

"A phone booth in Washington DC, Sir," The AI responded immediately. Tony considered the odds.

"Arthur, stay right where you are. I'll be there in ten minutes."

.

**A/N: So... how often am I going to updating this? I don't actually know. I hope to get a chapter out every two weeks, but that entirely depends on how heavy my course load is this year.**

**Well see.**

**~Rosemary Bagles**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alright, new chapter everyone. Not thaaaat much happens, but I said some stuff, and you guys get a hint at what's going on with Loki. The side parings for this story have been decided, and are listed below. Am I crazy?**

**Pairings that make sense: GerIta BlackHawk**

**Pairings that do not make sense: FrAus, RusRoma, Banner/Spain, Thor/Prussia, Rodgers/Belarus**

**... and potentially Ukra/Can if I feel like including those characters.**

**Jane does not exist in this universe, as I do not feel like dealing with her. Deal with it.**

**Mistakes are my fault, but do not blame me!~**

**.**

"England? Raise kids? Are you serious? The man couldn't raise a cat never mind a real person. I'd bet you twenty dollars that a grizzly bear could raise kids better than he could."

As much as Arthur tried to ignore Alfred's boisterous voice echoing around the informal meeting room, he found he just couldn't.

The preamble to this was simple enough.

Given that this meeting was more informal than others had been, Italy brought a curious issue to the table. He knew that the Nations couldn't have kids themselves, but was wondering if they could be allowed to adopt. This quickly moved from being a serious conversation, to a joking one hypothesizing what kind of parents the various Nations would be.

Arthur had been about to make a derogatory comment about France being a terrible parent because he was a pervert, when Alfred butted in. His comment, though said in a joking tone, managed to freeze the words in Arthur's mouth, accompanied with a sweeping wave of sadness and anger.

Arthur had made eye contact with a pained looking Ivan, and a surprisingly concerned France, before he stood, abandoning his briefcase, jacket, and phone in favour of leaving conference room.

"Artie? Where you goin'?" America called.

"Don't mind me," Arthur responded, his voice hoarse. "There's just something I forgot to do. Please continue without me."

"Smooth, Alfred," France commented sarcastically, once Arthur was out of earshot.

"What did I do?" Alfred responded?

.

Arthur stormed from the conference room, blinking and trying to keep his vision clear. It wasn't even that what Alfred had said bothered him that much, he'd never really considered adopting kids at all it was just…

God the man was such an insensitive asshole sometimes.

Arthur tried to like him. He really really did. But with the pigheaded way he acted most times, how was Arthur not supposed to wish that he was a small little colony again who was so much easier to deal with.

And Arthur new the tension between them was a problem that could be solved, but Alfred was seemingly oblivious to the fact that anything he said could possibly hurt anyone's feelings because he was the "almighty hero".

His attitude had only gotten worse when the Avengers arrived.

Sometimes Arthur wished that he didn't even know him.

With a jolt, Arthur looked up and realised that he was standing around in some unfamiliar city, with no idea where he was.

Being lost was bad enough, but even worse, he was lost alone. Arthur let out a chocked sob at the thought of being stranded all alone in an unfamiliar city when he so desperately wanted…

Usually he would call Ivan in these kinds of situations, but the Russian was no doubt trapped in the meeting some way or another and Germany would not take lightly to the important talks being interrupted again, especially by the Englishman's shenanigans.

Was there anything else he could do?

Well, he could call Him….

Might as well. It wasn't as if this day could get any worse.

Arthur wandered off in search of a payphone.

.

Tony approached from the river when Arthur caught sight of him, with the wind blowing through his hair, ripped jeans and a grease stained t-shirt.

He was fucking gorgeous.

Just for a moment Arthur somehow managed to forget how shitty his day was and what an utter ridiculous twat he was for calling a fucking billionaire to come from god knows where because he needed a hug.

In that moment, Tony almost seemed as self conscious as he was.

Then the moment was over and Arthur felt more ashamed than ever. He was such a stupid idiot. He turned his gaze to the ground and listened as Tony's slow footsteps approached. There was a moments of silence as Tony stopped, and then a rustle as the man knelt down in front of him.

"Hey," Tony's voice was soft, and Arthur had to stop a tremble from going through his body because that was the voice that had haunted his dreams, "Are you okay?" Tony's warm hands tentatively reached for one of Arthur's own, and the Englishman had to force himself to look at the man in front of him.

As soon as he did, he wished he hadn't.

Tony's chocolate brown eyes were swimming with emotion, and Arthur felt he couldn't look in them because of what he might see.

And then it occurred to him that Tony had asked him a question, and Arthur had been sitting silently for a minute like a complete idiot.

Was he okay?

"I…" Arthur tested his voice out. It was wavering, but strong enough. "I don't really know." It wasn't as if he could tell Tony the full story but…

But he wanted to.

Tony moved slowly, getting up off the grass to sit on the bench next to Arthur.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said quickly. He had to get this out. "I probably shouldn't have called you."

"It doesn't really matter," Tony commented. "It wasn't like I was going anything important at the time." Arthur twisted his head to look at Tony, but the man was gazing off into the distance, and seemed to be completely honest.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tony asked quietly. Arthur let out a long breath.

"It was just something that someone who used to be my friend said." Arthur was silent for a moment, but when Tony said nothing he continued. "It wasn't even his fault really, he's just an oblivious idiot that doesn't realise some of the things he says might hurt the people around him."

That was the truth, but it sounded differently when Arthur said it like that. Great. Now Tony would think that he was some weak fool that broke down crying whenever anyone said something slightly mean to him.

"He used to be your friend?" Tony asked.

"He was…" How honest did Arthur want to be with this. Usually he would some up with some bullshit story, but he didn't want to lie to Tony. And at the same time, Alfred…

He didn't want to give Tony the wrong impression about what Alfred meant to him.

"He was like a brother to me. We had a falling out a while back. It wasn't the best time for me, and I may not have acted entirely the way I should of, but he wanted nothing to do with me, and started a huge fight just to prove it, and said some things he probably shouldn't of. I would be willing to forgive him but…"

"But?" Tony asked.

"Alfred refuses to acknowledge that even a part of the blame for our falling out falls to him. He won't apologise for anything because of his stupid overinflated ego, after all he's right one hundred percent of the time, and it happened so far back that I should just 'get over it' and he shouldn't have to do anything to regain my trust."

"Ouch," Tony muttered.

"I used to really like him. Now I look at him and wish I didn't know him."

Arthur felt Tony shift closer to him, and his arm slowly sneak around his waist, and Arthur realised that he was suddenly freezing. The autumn wind was sharper than he thought. Arthur leaned into the strong man beside him, and was suddenly immensely glad that it was Tony he was with, rather than Ivan. Sure he didn't know Tony very well but…

Actually the fact that he didn't know Tony very well almost made it easier.

Sure this may be one of the rare moments where he revealed a more vulnerable side of himself, but because he was doing so to an almost stranger, it didn't really matter. It wasn't like Tony was going to brag to the other countries that he'd found England's weak spot.

"I don't really see him that often," Arthur commented, "So it doesn't really bother me that much, but I've never really had that many friends…" Arthur trailed off awkwardly.

"Well," Tony hesitated, "Now you have me. And I don't just mean that as a friend, though that would be nice, but I'd also be cool with being more. Not that I want to impose anything on you or anything! But…"

Arthur laughed at how suddenly flustered Tony became, the sound freeing him from the dark mood that he'd been in for the last few weeks.

"It's okay." Arthur said. "I get it. I think its best if we let whatever this is grow naturally into whatever it's going to be. But no matter what, I will be your friend." Tony let out a long breath.

"Right. Okay. I can work with that."

Arthur had a soft smile on his face as he curled closer to Tony, feeling his arm slowly sneak around to a more intimate grip, as he finally felt satisfied with where they stood with each other.

This could be okay, Arthur reckoned.

This would be okay.

.

Tony received a very strange look from Natasha when he wandered back in to the tower later that evening, but was extremely grateful when she returned to her book, rather than getting up to speak to him.

Though if she was giving him weird looks, Tony supposed that someone at some point would storm into whatever location he happened to be in and ask probing questions, though it was a tossup whether it would be Bruce or Pepper. Not that Bruce would ask probing questions but…

Resolving to entirely ignore the possibilities of being interrupted, Tony headed to the elevator, and then to his personal lab.

How soon was too soon to text someone anyways?

Did it even matter?

More importantly, did he even have anything mildly intelligent he wanted to say to Arthur? And if he waited until he had something really brilliant that he really wanted to say, and who knows how long it would take before he had the confidence to do that, would Arthur think he was blowing him off?

Maybe he should send Arthur a text anyways, just to let him know he was still there.

Was it acceptable to use a winkey face at this point in a relationship? Did normal, social people who worked nine to five jobs use emoticons, or was that just a teenager thing?

Tony groaned, and dropped his head in his hands.

Here he was, having flown halfway across a country just to hang out with a guy he'd met only once, and he was worrying about whether to use an emoticon in a text message.

What was he doing?

"Are you okay?" It was Bruce who had come to ask about what he'd done with his day. This was reasonably okay, because Tony wasn't sure exactly what he'd do if Pepper wandered into the rom.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. What's up, big guy?"

"Steve said he saw you leaving in a rush earlier. Did something happen that the Avengers should know about?"

Oh. That was the question he was asking. Not some horrible probing into Tony's personal life, but actual concern that there might be some kind of situation.

"No. It wasn't anything like that."

"Good. Now I have no cause to be worried." It is meant to be reassurance, but Bruce's tone tells Tony that even if he believed there wasn't some huge world ending crisis, he'd still be worried. Tony isn't sure if he's touched, or annoyed.

"Yeah," Tony manages to croak out, "Everything's fine." And Bruce gives him a curious look that makes Tony feel like shit because he's lying to a guy who's been nothing but kind to him. And a lot more reasonable than anyone should be around him.

Being the reasonable man that his is, Bruce quickly changes the topic, but somehow that makes him feel worse.

How do people do it on a daily basis? Make connections with real people and have real discussions about problems or emotions.

Tony used to look down on people who let their emotions be exposed. It was always better if you could keep them buried away, where no one could see them and no one could hurt you. But Tony was really freaking out, and actually wanted to let someone in and ask for advice for once.

But he didn't know how.

That was a skill he'd never learned, and though logically it shouldn't be too hard, any words he might have said to Bruce died in his mouth.

God, he missed Pepper.

.

Arthur, Ivan noted, was practically glowing when he returned to the hotel. It was just past dark when the Brit had stumbled back, and while Ivan had been panicking about the man being gone so long with no way to contact him, it was clear the time alone had done him some good.

Although the dreamy expression on his face would suggest that he wasn't quite alone…

Most of the countries had retired for the night, after Germany determined that there was no way to make the group of them stay focused after Arthur stormed out, so there were only a few who recognised Arthur as he strolled through the bar, but Ivan was worried that a wrong word from any one of them might send Arthur into a rage again.

But Arthur took Antonio's drunk call of "The mighty conquistador returns," in stride, so everything was fine. Ivan fell into step beside Arthur as they wandered towards the room they were sharing.

"So, how was Tony…" Ivan began the conversation once they were out of earshot of everyone they knew. Arthur sighed, heavily.

"I can never hide anything from you, can I."

"Nope." Ivan let the cheer from being right colour his voice. Arthur just glared at him.

"How did you know I was with him anyway?"

"Oh come on, did you see the look on your face. I know a love struck Arthur when I see one."

"What do you mean I was – I am not love struck!" Ivan had to laugh at his friends sudden outburst.

"Maybe, maybe not."

"I've liked other people before," Arthur grumbled.

"But only one of them lives in America." Arthur stopped for a moment.

"Huh. I guess you're right."

"I still want you to answer the first question though. How was Tony?"

"Tony was… good." Arthur's eyes clouded up with wistfulness, and Ivan felt a surge of gratefulness that Arthur had found a friend he trusted, as well as a feeling of panic, because he had absolutely no idea how trustworthy Tony Stark was. Still, if Arthur had managed to open up to him this much in the few times they'd met… maybe them hanging out was a good thing.

"Did you guys do anything interesting?"

"No. Well, we just sat around on a park bench and talked. It was actually really nice." Ivan mirrored Arthurs smile, and then turned to unlock the door to their room.

"Can I meet him?"

"Well, I- uh… there isn't that much time between now and when we're leaving and he's probably busy—"

"I don't mean now. Just at some point, can I meet him?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure."

.

After everything that happened, the last thing Bruce wanted to be was worried about Tony.

The man had done everything in his power to make sure that Bruce felt like part of the group, regardless of the Other Guy, and Bruce really respected him. He wanted to trust that if Tony had a problem he would know how to deal with it, and if he wanted to talk to him, he would come and talk. And if he didn't want to talk, that was okay too.

But he almost couldn't help it.

Tony looked stressed. The man who wouldn't sleep for seventy two hours and could go an entire day on nothing but a ham and cheese sandwich usually looked fine, but today he was stressed.

Tony had said it wasn't something the Avengers had to worry about, and Bruce believed him. That didn't mean there wasn't a problem though.

It hadn't escaped his knowledge that Tony tended to be… self destructive.

If Tony had a problem, would he seek help from an outside source? Did he trust his teammates enough?

Bruce really wanted to believe the answer to those questions was yes, but he had the sneaking suspicion that it was no.

.

Loki relaxed his arms and attempted to concentrate on his breathing.

In. Out. In. Out.

As long as he wasn't focused on the cuts on his arms, his broken ankle, or the invading force trying to bash its way into his mind, he would be fine.

In. Out. In. Out.

A twitch to the left and one of the cuts on his arm made contact with the freezing floor he'd been thrown on, and his entire body spammed with pain.

Loki's breath came out jagged, but he didn't dare make a sound. Even if it was agony, he didn't want to anger Thanos again.

In. Out. In. Out.

It was different this time.

Thanos was different this time.

Loki was sure numerous of the guys servants would argue if he ever dared to voice his opinion, but Thanos was in his mind.

Loki remembered the grip of Thanos' mind very distinctly.

This was not Thanos. Oh Thanos was deffinately present, but he was almost entirely controlled by something else. Someone else.

There was someone out there strong enough to make the lord of one of the seven lands of the dead their personal puppet.

That thought scared Loki.

He'd kept Thanos from over running his minds defences before, but he had no idea how long he'd last against this stronger opponent, especially if whoever it was had done such a quick and easy job of taking over Thanos' mind.

Already Loki was feeling pained and helpless.

A part of him wanted to believe that if he just gave in to Thanos' advances then the pain would go away. Maybe he could survive, despite someone forcibly taking over his body, and glean some information about whoever was controlling Thanos.

But he was so terrified.

Loki was a magician who worked in illusions, and a lie smith who worked with words. Beyond the basics, he had no idea how possession worked.

He didn't know what would happen to him if someone did truly take over his mind.

He might lose what little sense of self he had left. He'd have someone else's thoughts running through his head, and though he might be a person, he wouldn't be Loki anymore.

He was terrified.

It didn't matter how much pain he was in.

He would lower his shields for no man.

He would remain himself, or die trying.

In. Out. In. Out.

If not for himself, he would do it for Thor.

.

**A/N: All will be reviled in due time.**

**Please review. I'd like to know what people think of where you think the story is going (What's going on with Loki) and the various pairings I've planned.**

**Also, I can't be the only one fangirling over Agents of Sheild, can I?**

**~~RosemaryBagels**


End file.
